by T. C. Edge
I couldn’t care less. I’m out of here. Gone.
“Brie, please. Stop and listen to me.”
Adryan’s voice is closer now. Only a few metres away.
He appears at my side, jogging right up to me, and lays a hand on my shoulder. I imagine that he’s never had to run in his life. Such a thing, surely, would be unbecoming of such a man.
He twists me around to face him. His eyes are ice, grey-blue and frosty. Mine are fire, hazel and burning.
“Brie, come back to the car. We cannot create a scene,” he whispers.
“I can do whatever I want,” I counter. “I’m going back to where I belong.”
I turn to move off again. His strong hand maintains its grip.
“Let go, or you’ll lose it,” I growl.
“I can’t,” he says. “I’m in this too deep now. I won’t let you go, Brie. Please, let’s just talk. Your brother would want you to talk.”
I scoff at the suggestion, and shake his hand from my shoulder.
I don’t care. He must have known about this all along. Why didn’t he tell me?
Why, Zander? Why?
I half expect him to reply, somewhere deep in my mind. He doesn’t.
Instead, Adryan’s voice comes at me again, still calm and methodical but showing a hint of tension.
“Brie, think about this logically…”
I round on him.
“Oh, you Savants just LOVE your logic, don’t you!”
“And you love your absurd emotional outbursts. Seriously, what’s prompted this crazed display?”
“Are you the stupidest Savant alive?! You want me to…” I cut myself off, containing my voice and turning it to a harsh whisper. “You want me to kill the most powerful man in the city,” I bite.
“Lady Orlando wants it. The Nameless want it. Surely their combined wisdom is enough to make you at least hear me out?”
His words have some impact on me. I take a long, deep, breath, and un-ball my fists. My arms hang a little looser by my sides, my heart-rate easing back.
“Come to the car, Brie,” says Adryan again. “This way, come on.”
With his hand now dropping to the small of my back, he gently guides me back up the street. Turning now, I notice that our little display has garnered a few peering eyes.
I doubt they ever see such a thing around here.
The audience, however, helps to quell my ire further. As we reach the car, I turn my mouth back into a little smile just to keep up appearances. The watching eyes determine that the scene has concluded, and continue to go about their evenings.
I step into the car, and let the smile slip from my face.
As soon as the doors shut, Adryan issues a command. To the car, not me.
Right now, he wouldn’t dare.
“Inner Spiral, The Court House,” he says.
The car hums to life and immediately starts to glide off onto the pristine road, joining the Outer Spiral and turning left.
“Why are we going to a courthouse?” I ask, my eyes still hidden under heavy frowns.
“No, not a courthouse. The Court House,” he corrects me, as if I should understand the distinction.
I make it very clear through my blank expression that further explanation is required. He at least has some intuition, enough to pick up on my confusion.
“Ah, of course. A courthouse to you would be a place where crimes are disputed and suitable punishments given out. This is very different. It is a building used specifically for the process of courting.”
“The process of courting. You make it sound so romantic.”
“Romance has little to do with it. Marriages here are more like contracts. So, we should be just fine…”
Was that an attempt at humour?
“Um, well, you still seem to be assuming that our little mission is going ahead? I’m doing this as a courtesy, Adryan. After tonight, I won’t be coming back to Inner Haven…”
“And that is your choice,” he remarks casually. “You must do what’s best for you, after all. No one can force you to do anything.”
“I’m glad you agree.”
He nods and turns forward. My eyes drift to the side window, and begin staring out as we pass through the lifeless world of the Enhanced.
Between us, my jacket sits on the chair. I pull it up onto my lap, covering up my blue dress, and begin fiddling with the coarser fabric that I’m far more familiar with.
As I do, my fingers scrape against a hard edge, and I look down to see the worn border of white card poking out from an inner pocket. I take a grip and pull it out, opening it up.
For the millionth time, I stare at the faces of my parents. But now, my eyes spend more time with my mother, her face glowing with love as she looks at me, yet her eyes hiding the pain within.
I need to know who she was. I need to know what happened to her…to them both.
The thought causes a change in me. I let my anger fade and slip away to the back of my mind. I let my body relax and my mind open to hearing Adryan out. Because only here, in Inner Haven, will I find what I’m looking for.
For me, this isn’t only about the mission. It’s not only about doing what the Nameless want, joining their rebel forces. No. This is about my past too. And the only way I’m going to be able to find the truth is by playing along.
For now, at least.
My peripheral vision catches Adryan watching me, turning his eyes from the picture to my face and back again. It’s as if he’s studying me, trying to gauge my reaction.
“Who are they?” he asks.
I shut the card and put it back into my jacket pocket, sliding it in deep.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say.
I look away, but still keep him right at the edge of my vision. Still, he looks at me for a few moments, before turning his face back to the front of the vehicle.
We wind around the Spiral, turning down side streets occasionally where the roads flatten out and straighten; short cuts between the coils of the main road in the city. Soon enough, we’re plunging deep into the heartland of Inner Haven, it’s core, the High Tower, looming above us as it always does.
Joining the Inner Spiral, we circle to the north, where we begin moving down a side road that, like all the streets here, has little to differentiate it from the rest. The only noticeable change is the grandeur of the buildings, which rise up a little higher and stretch a little wider than those on the outer coils.
We slow half way down a street just off the Inner Spiral, and slip into an underground parking lot, the car moving to its assigned space. The place is fairly quiet, only a few vehicles scattered about.
“So, tell me about this place then,” I say as we climb out of the car and begin moving towards a lift.
Adryan hits a button and a light glows.
“As I told you, it’s used for the process of courting, and offers a private place for couples to get to know each other before determining whether they wish to take their relationship any further.”
“So, we can’t just, I don’t know, go to your apartment?”
The lift door pings and opens before us. Adryan steps inside and I follow. He hits the button for the top floor – floor 20 – and the lift swiftly begins to rise.
“No, that wouldn’t be allowed,” he answers. “Not until a couple have committed to each other are they allowed to officially live together. Mostly, they will be moved into a different accommodation. Single Enhanced and married Enhanced have different spatial requirements.”
“But what if you like where you live? Do you enjoy your apartment?”
It’s a silly question to ask of a man like him.
“My apartment suits my needs,” comes his unsurprising response. “All apartments are standardised based on occupancy and rank…”
“And you, being a Savant of some esteem, get a better space allowance?”
I can’t tell if my sarcasm is lost on him or not. Either way, he doesn’t react to it, but merely
answers my question.
“Yes. It’s an indicator of rank, just like the colours we wear, and the insignia we have on our chests.”
“But not everyone wears the city insignia,” I say, peering at the space beneath his collar. “You’re not.”
“No, only city officials wear it.”
“So, you’re not a city official then? What do you do for work, exactly?”
The lift stops and the door slides open. He steps out and leads me along an uncomfortable chrome corridor, coloured in a similar fashion to his eyes.
“I operate as a researcher for the Institute of Human Relations,” he finally answers, reaching a door.
He plants his palm to a pad and it swiftly reads his prints and scans the distinct shape of his hand.
“The Institute of Human Relations? What exactly does that mean?”
“It means,” he says, stepping over the threshold and into the apartment, “that I help to understand the different types of Unenhanced, and Enhanced, in the city. And, in particular, I study ways to ensure that both parts of this city co-operate in the best way possible.”
I stop in the doorway, staring at him. He begins moving down the hall.
He studies us? Does that mean that…
“Answer me this,” I say, still rooted to the spot.
He turns, halfway down the corridor, and awaits my question.
“Are you a part of all this? Have you advised the Consortium that suppressing our emotions is the next step, the best way forward?”
His eyes remain flat, but there’s a slight twitch to them, a discomfort brewing behind his calm façade.
“Come in and shut the door, Brie,” he says. “Like I said, we have a lot that we need to discuss…”
I step forward, drawn in by a burgeoning curiosity, and let the door drift shut behind me.
And pacing on, I start my search for the truth.
It begins right here, right now.
16
I enter into a large living space that appears very similar to the apartment occupied by Rycard and Sophie. Only larger.
With wide windows and an airy feel, it might appeal to minimalists and clean-freaks who hate clutter. To me, it’s lifeless and empty and exceptionally uninviting.
I care little for the state of the apartment, though. As we move towards a polished white table, set up near the window, Adryan begins to briefly tell me about the place. It’s not the subject I’m most interested in.
“Should we marry, our apartment would be very similar to this one,” he tells me. “The top couple of floors of this building are reserved for courting Savants and their partners. The apartments below are smaller, and used for other Enhanced…”
“Fascinating,” I say.
His voice cuts short and he looks at me with a rare measure of annoyance. I suppose he’s probably never been spoken to in such a fashion by a girl like me. His superiors, maybe, but that would be fine. To be cut off mid-sentence by an orphan from Outer Haven...what a shameful thing it must be.
Then again, I’m not Unenhanced. I may not be a ‘pure-blood’ Savant, but I’ve got a mix in me that, for my money, makes me a more impressive specimen than he is.
And that’s probably the very reason why the Savants outlawed interbreeding in the first place. Hybrids like me are too much of a threat. And to those in power, threats cannot be tolerated.
He moves towards the table and sits down in a chair in front of me. To his left and my right, the clear wall of the building presents a magnificent view over the city and beyond. It speaks volumes that I’m not distracted by it.
“You haven’t answered my question yet,” I say. I lean forward. “Are you part of this?”
Slowly, he begins to nod.
“It depends on how you look at it, really,” he says. “I was assigned my duty, and I performed it. We have conducted a lot of research, Brie, and one of the conclusions we drew was that suppressing emotion would lead to a safer, more co-ordinated society. We feed our findings to the Consortium, and they determine what to do with it.”
“So, you’re essentially telling me that you’re complicit in all this? That your work has brought us all to this point?”
“That’s an awfully simple way of looking at it. Most of us are just pawns on a chessboard. We are tasked with a duty and do it to the best of our ability. The same is true here, among my people, as much as anywhere. But pawns don’t make the decisions. That is the person playing the game. The Consortium is that person. Yet…they are not evil people, Brie. They’re merely doing what they believe to be right for the future of mankind.”
“The future of mankind,” I sneer. “And you? What are your thoughts on the matter? It sounds like you agree with them…which is odd, really, given how you’re here with me right now.”
A flash of concern rumbles through me. Have I been lured into a trap? Can I actually trust this man, or is this all just a ruse to draw me out?
The sudden thought forces me to lean back. I’m unable to hide the wrinkle of worry from creasing my forehead. Adryan, clearly so well versed in reading Outer Haveners given his work, quickly douses my concerns.
“You’re afraid, but you needn’t be,” he says. “I disagree with the methods of the Consortium as much as you do. I believe that, for us all to have a future, we need to embrace all of our people and come together as one. And…I have my other reasons too…”
He trails off and turns to the window, his pale façade dimming. I search his silver eyes and try to put into practice the lessons of my brother. I inch into his thoughts, his memories, but see nothing but a blur.
His gaze swings back round to me.
“Stop it,” he orders harshly.
I recoil.
“You have no right to try to read my thoughts, Brie. I know just what you’re capable of. Keep out of my mind.”
He stands to his feet, his chair sliding back along the floor and scraping at the polished tiles. I examine him closely as he takes a few paces away, before turning and looking back.
The brief wave of anger has passed, the ocean now flat and calm once more. He takes a breath.
“I am in remiss,” he says. “I haven’t asked you if you’d like a drink? These apartments are well stocked.”
“Um…water, maybe.”
He shakes his head.
“Might I suggest wine. You may be craving it soon.”
He moves off, leaving me alone with my thoughts for a few minutes, before re-appearing carrying a decanter and two glasses. He pours them out and takes a seat once more.
I take a sip. So does he, mirroring me.
Then he sucks in a long breath, before breaking the short silence.
“I know all of this is quite…shocking for you. And try as I might, it can be hard for me to fully relate. Yet my work gives me a unique insight into the relations between all sects of this city. Slowly but surely, the Consortium have been trying to phase out the Unenhanced completely. They see the future as theirs, and us – the Savants – as being the only ones capable of spearheading the repopulation of this world. I don’t agree with this doctrine.”
“And so you contacted the Nameless to offer your services? It seems a very dangerous thing to do.”
“Danger isn’t a particularly strong concept to me. One of the benefits of having muted emotions is a lack of fear. I have no real fear of my own death. Yet I do have a compassion for the Unenhanced, and the many Enhanced who have slowly been turned into slaves. If I have to give up my life, then so be it. I am just one man. I don’t mean anything.”
“That’s a depressing way to look at your own life. And if you place so little value on it, why won’t you kill Director Cromwell?”
“I would if I could,” he says, his words cracking with bitterness. “But I cannot.”
“Why?”
“I’m not capable of such a thing. I am just a man, Brie. I don’t have the powers that you do.”
I laugh, shaking my head, and scoop up my wine gla
ss.
“I think you’re overestimating what I can do. This is so ridiculous. Surely the Nameless have better spies – or should I say assassins – than me? I’m no warrior. And I’m no killer.”
“Not yet,” he utters. “But things can change quickly, and so can people. You don’t yet know who you are. And no, there is no one but you. Other than your brother, the Nameless have no Mind-Manipulators. Such powers are extremely rare, even in the High Tower, and when you master them, you’ll be capable of some devastating things.”
He follows me as I take a sip of wine once again before continuing
“And you have something more. You have anonymity, and you have me to open doors. This mission is one that only you can carry out. If you don’t do it, no one will.”
His words seem to echo in my head for a while. I feel the burden of the entire city bearing down on me. How can this have happened? How can they put so much responsibility on me?
I thought this was merely an operation to find information. To discover some big plot or ploy. To feed secrets to the Nameless and let them take care of the rest. That would have been bad enough, dangerous enough. This is something else entirely.
They’re asking me to become a murderer.
“This isn’t fair,” I whisper. “It’s…too much.”
I stare down at my fingers, gripping the stem of the glass. Losing focus, they begin to fall forward, the tiniest bubbles in the wine growing into giant, clear boulders, my fingers appearing so colossal and bulbous, like those of the Brutes only magnified tenfold.
As I stare, I feel a touch to my hand, and a new set of fingers emerges into view. I’m snapped out of my stupor and my vision returns to normal, and I see Adryan’s hand lightly laying on mine.
I turn left, and he stands above me, his icy eyes thawed and softened.
“You remind me of…” he starts. He cuts himself short, blinks a few times, and turns away again, dragging his fingers with him.
He takes a few paces away as he did before, before turning back and retaking his seat.
“I’m sorry for all of this, Brie. But it will settle. Right now, it’s all just so fresh. Change can be difficult to master.”
Change…
Everything is changing for me now.